West Virginia stifles Oklahoma State

Morgantown, W.Va. >> Sydney Shaw scored 18 points and No. 21 West Virginia stymied No. 24 Oklahoma in a defensive battle, pulling out a 54-37 win on Saturday.

The Cowgirls, who came in averaging 80 points a game, scored in single figures in three quarters and shot 21%, going 2 of 23 from 3-point range, by far their worst shooting game of the season.

JJ Quinerly scored 15 points with a career-high eight steals for the Mountaineers (17-4, 7-3 Big 12 Conference), who forced 21 turnovers with 15 steals.

Alexia Smith scored 15 and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cowgirls (18-4, 8-3), who had their four-game winning streak end. Stailee Heard, who led the team in scoring in eight straight games and hit double figures in nine straight, was held to seven.

West Virginia didn’t exactly light it up, going 4 of 17 from 3-point range and shooting 40% overall. The Mountaineers were held 25 points below their average and had their lowest scoring game of the season.

The Cowgirls had a 6-3 lead three minutes into the game but didn’t score again for more than 11 minutes, falling behind 16-6. The drought included seven missed shots and 10 turnovers.

Quinerly moved into No. 7 in West Virginia career scoring with 1,757 points, passing Kate Bulger and went past Rosemary Kosiorek for third in career steals (300).

Oral Roberts 68, Denver 67>> The University of Denver lost a heartbreaker Saturday as Oral Roberts roared back in the fourth quarter to win 68-67 Saturday in Tulsa, Okla.

DU (8-14, 1-8 Summit League) jumped out to a 9-3 lead early in the game and stayed in control all afternoon, bringing an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter.

Then the Golden Eagles got hot, including five straight points from Jalei Oglesby, who finished the day with 13 points. ORU held DU scoreless for the final 2:33 of the game.

Jordan Jones scored 15 points to lead the Pios. Angelina Robles contributed 13 points and two steals, and Brook Murrell had her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Makyra Tramble led ORU (17-5, 7-2) with 14 points.

With the loss, Emily Counsel took sole possession of the record for career games played for DU with 125.

Air Force 75, Colorado State 71>> Milahnie Perry scored 23 points, Madison Smith added 18, and Air Force secured a 75-71 win as Colorado State ran out of steam Saturday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.

Air Force took control early and led 35-32 at halftime. The Rams managed to get within one possession in the final minutes of the game, but Perry’s backdoor layup at the 2:21 mark sealed it for the Falcons.

Hannah Ronsiek and Hannah Simental led CSU with 12 points apiece. Brooke Carlson had 11 points and seven assists.

Wyoming 79, Boise State 45>> Allyson Fertig and Emily Mellema scored 22 points each to help Wyoming beat Boise State 79-45 on Saturday in Laramie. It was the Cowgirls’ largest margin of victory over the Broncos in the history of the series.

Wyoming (13-9, 7-3 Mountain West) took an early 10-2 lead before Boise State made it 10-7. By the end of the first quarter, the Cowgirls led 20-7. By halftime it was 38-21, and the rout was on.

Wyoming shot 55.6% from the floor and hit 4 of 11 from 3-point range, while Boise State (15-8, 5-5) was held to a season-low 30.5% and went 1 for 8 from behind the arc.

— Staff and wire reports